Be My Blacksmith?
by FortunesHand
Summary: A player has broken his great sword and decides to replace it, although, he is no smith. As such, he visits the closest smith shop to make his special order. Lisbeth's Smith Shop. -check chapter 1 description-.
1. Chapter 1

I'm trying something new today. I have a few ideas for stories, but I couldn't decide which one I wanted to use. I've made a short chapter for each one, and I'm going to let the readers decide which one I continue right now, alongside my Persona series.

This is my fic for Sword Art Online. Understand, I have not finished the show, and will have to if this is selected. It is an OC fic, yet again. Sorry folks. There's going to be a good bit of mistakes in this one, as I pumped it out pretty quick today. There is a possibility of a rewrite.

OC X Lisbeth, Kirito X Asuna (Not main focus)

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'Jesus, floor 48, and this place just keeps getting prettier…Hard to tell myself it's not real…God do I wish it was.' I thought to myself, as I looked up to the sky, and the golden sun shined down on my face. I smiled and began to walk through the streets, brimming with players and NPC's alike, looking for a blacksmith. Time and effort had made me grow tired of trying to self-repair the stupid sword. 'It's probably time I replace this dumb thing…'

It wasn't long before I found a smith, near the center of the town. Its appearance on the outside was rather quaint and cute, although the inside was a different story. The inside was far larger than it appeared to be on the outside, and it was very well kept. The walls were lined with weapons, of all size, type, and quality. The smaller glass display cases were filled with higher quality weapons and armor, although, there was nothing in my style that I found suitable. I sighed softly and whispered to myself "God dammit, another special order. Looks like I'm going to be in town for a while…"

I walked over to the counter and looked for the owner, but did not find anyone. I called out to the back, and instead of a voice, a loud thunk from underneath the large table in the center of the room, and a squeak were the response I was given. After a moment of awkward silence, I heard shuffling from under the same table. Soon, on the other side of the table, a small girl with pink hair pulled out of her eyes by a white hairclip, popped up. Her face was bright and cheerful, and her outfit resembled that of a waitress, a red, girlish bow, sitting peacefully on her chest. Her smile was a bit stiff, but rather cute. "My apologies, sir. Welcome to Lisbeth's smith shop. How can I help you today?" She asked, her eyes closed naturally with her smile.

As her eyes opened, she noticed the huge sword, sitting on my back, and asked if she could take a look at it. I obliged, and she looked it over. After a minute or two of her quietly examining the sword in her hand, she looked back up to me, a light grin spread over her face. "Sir, how many times have you tried to repair this thing yourself?"

"I lost count a loooong time ago…" I replied, my head drawn to my feet in shame.

She giggled softly, as she set the great sword down on the table in the back. She called out to me without looking back "You want me to repair it properly?" a hint of mockery to her tone.

"Uhm…No, not exactly…Actually, I was looking to see if there was a better one here...Would you be willing to help me with that?..."

She turned back to me, a soft smile on her face, radiating remembrance. I gave her a minute to recollect before speaking up and interrupting her memories.

"Uhm…Excuse me…"

"Oh! I'm sorry! That would be no problem…That is, if I had the materials… we don't see many great sword user, so I'm a bit short. Would you mind-"

"Not at all. Just give me a list and I'll go gather it from the field."

"No, no! You didn't let me finish, you moron! I'll be right back…"

She huffed angrily, and went to the back to retrieve something. I sat there in quiet shock. 'Moron?' I asked myself in my head, and turned to walk out of the store, irritated, at best. As I was about to leave, another customer walked through the door. A guy. He seemed to be in his mid-teens, and be fairly well off. He was rather handsome, albeit a bit boyish, dressed in his long black coat, two swords across his back. He smiled softly and stopped me. "Do yourself a favor. Give the girl a chance. She is by far the best blacksmith I've ever been to".

I chuckled to myself. "Your point is? She doesn't have the materials to make what I need, and doesn't seem to want me gathering the materials" I responded, an aggravated smirk taking hold of me. He smiled calmly.

"Just wait until she gets out of the back. Trust me. I know where this is going"

"And why the fuck should I? I don't even know you. For all I know, you're just some promoter she brought in" I growled as I shoved by him.

He sighed weakly, as I opened the door to walk out. "That your great sword over there?"

"Yeah. And what if it is?" I shut the door behind me, and turned back to him, expecting a fight.

"It'd take a massive amount of strength to do that kind of damage to a sword like that."

"Where are you going with this? Hurry it up please. I've got shit to do"

The guy sweat dropped and sighed again, before walking over to the wall display, and picking up a giant battle axe. He tossed it to me, and walked over to my side.

"What's this for? You want to duel"

He sighed, yet again (which was really starting to piss me off, mind you, and placed the green sword, which he had unsheathed, on two tables, so that the hilt was on one, and the blade on the other, a decent sized gap between the tables. He turned back to me, after having set that up, and pointed to the battle axe in my hand. "That sword was a special order from her. Looks flimsy enough, right? Break it"

I laughed softly and told him I wasn't going to break his sword, but he insisted, and I lined myself up. I pulled the axe back, and swung with all my might. My eyes closed during my swing, and I felt something break. I opened my eyes, and was shocked to find the battle axe had shattered, and was now no more than iron dust on the floor, before it glowed orange and faded away. Apparently the girl in the back had come out some point, as she was now staring at the ground, where the battle axe had laid seconds ago, a vein pulsing on her forehead. 'Oh, she's so pissed' I thought silently, as she looked up at the boy at my side.

"Kirito…Why is it that every time you're here, you break something?!" She shouted at the man in black, who held up his hands in submission.

"I was just showin-"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU WERE SHOWING! STOP BREAKING MY WORK! And as for you…We're going material collecting. After all, you owe me now."

The small girl grabbed my forearm, and dragged me out of the shop, the guy, apparently named Kirito, watching on, a soft, friendly smile spread across his face. He waved to me, as if knowing he wouldn't see me for a long while. To this day, I'm not sure if I should thank him or slap him in the face for setting me up.


	2. UPDATE: NOT A CHAPTER

Hey guys. Sorry about the delay and everything. Things are a little bit hectic right now, but I'll be right on track, soon enough. This story was the winner of the contest, and will be the one that I continue first...Although, there is going to be a bit more of a wait. Give me a week or two, so I can actually finish the show, and replace my laptop, and I'll be all over this story. This is just an update chapter, and I feel bad about that, so, next chapter I post will be a double. Thank you so much for being patient with me


	3. The Smith and Her Yorkie

So, this is the double chapter I promised. I might have some details wrong. I now have another question. Would you readers prefer I give shorter, more frequent chapters, like I had originally planned, or these longer ones? And, again, thank you for being so patient with me. This is by far my most popular story, and that amazes me. Thank you so much for reading.

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"Wait, wait! Slow down for a second…Geeze…You move fast for somebody carrying so much weight…" My companion slowed to a halt, and placed her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath, tired from trying to keep up with my long strides for a long time now. I have to admit, I was impressed she stuck with me this far. I was expecting her to just call the whole thing a nuisance, give me a list, and return to her shop. Here we were…a good hour or two and however many miles later, her still hot on the trail.

I sighed and turned around, frustrated with her for dragging me away on some sort of fetch quest.

"Where are we even going, and why do you need to come? Wait…Why am I even bothering with you? Go home. I'll find another smith" I growled, trying to sound menacing. Apparently I failed, because she just gave me a soft glare. I sighed and sat down on the ground thinking to myself 'screw it; I'll cut her some slack…'

She stared at me, expressing obvious confusion, before I patted the ground at my side, motioning for her to take a seat by me. She smiled sweetly and obliged, before speaking up again.

"Given up on getting rid of me, huh? Guys are so easy." She giggled and gazed off into the distance, watching the sun set slowly over the hills. It was actually quite a sight, although, I was too riled up to take anything good away from it. I scoffed at her response, and opened my inventory. I thought to myself about how much of an annoyance she was

"Whatever. I could really care less what you think of me...You're just another quest as far as I'm concerned. Hopefully the payouts decent." I tried to hide my grin from the now flustered blacksmith, as I pulled a sticky bun out of my inventory and laid back in the grass to eat it. She looked as if she was about to go off on me, but that expression slowly dissolved into an unreadable mix of depression and angst. She turned away from me to try and hide it, although, at that point, I had already noticed it.

"What's the problem, pinkie? Cat got your tongue?" I don't know why I said that. I really don't. I don't know why I felt the need to prod at this poor girl. She turned back to me, her anger evident, and properly described by the scowl on her face.

"That's the worst thing you could say to me, you know? That's the worst thing you could say to any of us stuck in here…That you look at us like we're just NPC's...There's a person behind this avatar…There's a person behind every avatar, actually, but then there's people like you who forget that. We're real, you know?...Even if we don't see it. Even if we can't see it…And, it's Lisbeth. Please, don't call me anything else…"

She turned away once more, having finished her small rant, and I sighed. The girl's feelings were obviously hurt, and you know what, she had a point. It was pretty low of me to treat everyone like they didn't exist...In an attempt to make some small sort of peace treaty, I went back into my inventory. I dug through it for a minute before finding what I was looking for, and calling out to her.

"Hey, Lisbeth. Catch."

She turned at the mention of her name, and turned just in time to catch a small bag of pink cookies I had tossed her way. She stared at them in her hand, as if they might be poison, and I couldn't help but think to myself that her face had some sort of inherent charm. I waited expectantly, watching to see if she would accept them. She stared at them for a moment longer before pulling one out of the bag, and breaking it in half between her fingers. She held half out to me and smiled sweetly, as if to call for a truce. I happily obliged and took the cookie. I ate it quickly and looked back over at my new companion.

She was taking small delicate bites of her half, working her way through it slowly. I probably watched a bit longer, and more obviously than I should have, considering she called me on it.

"Why are you staring at me like that? Do I have something on my face?" She licked at the corner of her lips, trying to clear the nonexistent cookie debris. I chuckled slightly, and shook my head.

"It's not that. Something about you…Interests me…Why did you feel the need to come with me? I'm not trying to get rid of you. I suppose I'm just…Curious."

She smiled that same adorable, albeit a bit forced, smile, that she had smiled upon meeting me. "A good blacksmith sees every piece of the job through to the end!" she said, through her giant smile.

Catching how much that sounded like a slogan for some kind of Hardware Company, or something of the sort, I spoke up again. "That's totally your business smile. Am I right?"

She acted offended for a moment, but that slowly turned into a sheepish grin and a slight blush. "Am I that obvious?..." She asked. I shook my head, before looking back up at the sky above me, now a gorgeous mixture of shades of orange and pink from the sun setting. "It's not a bad one. I've just seen my mom's a million times" I said calmly, hoping she wouldn't ask more about my family. She didn't. She asked something else.

"Ah…I see. So, I don't think I've asked yet…What's your name? Like…Your real name. Not your screen name, mr…Iori Blackheart? Weird screen name. Don't know why I didn't notice that before…But, anyway, that's not your name, right?"

I blankly avoided eye contact, as she looked in my direction, and gave her an answer. "Indeed it is not, observant Ms. Lisbeth. I go by York, in the real world, although, people in here typically like to refer to me as Eeyore...You pick which one to go with."

The pink haired girl pressed her finger to her chin, much like a child does when they are thinking about something very hard. Somehow, I find this rather fitting. Even a bit cute. Eventually she comes to her choice…Although, it's not exactly my preferred choice.

"Weeell….Which one do you like better?" She asked quietly. I sighed and told her I really didn't care, but she persisted, leading to a small argument.

"What do you mean you don't care?...It's your name…"

"Does it matter? It's just a word. I really don't care."

"No, I can't accept that! There has to be one that you like better!"

"Well, there isn't."

"There so is!"

"Wha…No. There's not."

"Are you suuuure?..."

"Yeah, I think so."

"I don't think you're very suuuure…"

"I'm pretty sure that I'm sure about being sure…"

"Wow, you're pretty good at this! Now, really, which one do you like better?"

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE, JUST PICK ONE DAMMIT!"

"Nope. I'm picking middle ground. You're now Yorkie. Like that cute little doggy."

"Wha…That wasn't an option…"

"But, I thought you said it was my choice."

'Shit, she's got me' I thought to myself before deciding to concede and tell her my favorite of the names.

"York…It's…I prefer York. Now, drop the Yorkie thing?"

She smiled and stood up, brushing off her dress before walking ahead, singing to herself "I've got a new pet Yorkiiiie". I quickly jumped to my feet and followed behind her, till trying to say "God dammit, it's York! Just York. Leave off the e." She turned around not listening to me, and continued to mock me.

"Look at that! He even follows me! What a good little Yorkie! Come along now Yorkie!" she shouted, skipping ahead, laughing to herself all the while. I grumbled some inconsistent curses to myself and followed behind her, occasionally trying to say that I preferred York, but she was having none of that. I was now forever doomed to be a Yorkie.

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We walked and walked, until reached we the next floor. Floor 63. We had used the teleport gate back in Lindas to get to floor 61 and had walked the rest, all through the night. By that time Lisbeth was exhausted and apparently in dire need of a rest. I was fine with skipping rest, as my character had an exploit to avoid sleeping. She eventually stopped me, warning that she was going to collapse from tiredness. I made a snap judgment and decided to show her my way around sleep.

I went into my inventory and selected a small golden vial, putting it into my avatars hand, before tossing it to her. She caught it and looked at me quizzically, before I myself pulled one out of the inventory and drank it, instantly feeling rejuvenated She took my lead and did the same, immediately noticing the effects. "Wow…I feel great. I feel like I won't need to sleep for a week...What was that thing?" she asked, her curiosity peaked.

"Rejuvenation vial" I responded.

"Wha…I've never heard of those…They must be really rare…Thanks for sharing one with me."

"No problem. I've got over 9,000 left…No bad pun intended."

Her mouth dropped in shock, and I smiled, looking forward so she didn't notice.

"9…How did you get…Wait…How do you have that much carry weight?!"

I laughed and tossed her another vial for her to observe. She took a moment in the inventory screen, and her eyebrows slowly lifted. A sign of more confusion.

"This has no weight…Wait, it doesn't have a description either! What did you give me?!"

She ran to catch up with me, spinning me around and grabbing me by a set of links on the loose chainmail I wore on my chest. I knocked her hand loose with ease and turned around, continuing to walk through the flowery field, lit by the calm morning light. She followed, angrily shouting, until eventually she just fell into a state of pleading. I sighed and kicked myself for my inability to let a girl be upset, and stopped her, promising an explanation.

"That item…Well, it isn't necessarily supposed to exist." I said with a small smirk.

"Well, what does that mean? How do you have it?...Wait, are you a modder or something?". I laughed at the concept of somebody modding something which was basically real life for anyone inside it, and she looked even more confused before I waved that off.

"No, no. By no means, am I a modder. You see, back in beta testing, there were a lot of items that don't exist now. This was one of them. I have them because I thought ahead and stocked up on 9,999 of them, after realizing how ridiculously overpowered they were. It turns out I made the right choice, as they removed them from the list of things that can be dropped by monsters or bosses or anything else…Although, they never removed the coding."

She listened to my explanation, her mouth hanging slightly open. After taking everything in, she responded the way every player in this game would.

"Wait…You were a beta tester?" she asked, trying to keep any emotion out of her voice until she was certain she had heard me right.

I sighed, yet again, planning for her to run off back to her shop and refuse me service, as all other shop owners who recognized me as a beta tester would. What she did next surprised me. She smiled. Not that forged business smile, but a real smile. She pumped her fist energetically and gave a small "yesss". Now it was my turn to be confused. She laughed softly and gave a quick explanation, perkiness and joy practically dripping from each word.

"I've had great experiences with beta testers!...Well, actually, it was one beta test…But he's my best customer now! You met him actually! His names-"

It dawned on me before she even finished her sentence. He had two swords on his back because he was the one who earned the dual blades ability…The only one. The guy with the fastest reaction time out of all of them. He remembered the tests they were put through upon first playing the game, back in testing. I blocked her out at that point, reminiscing, and trying to remember the boy from any of the large parties of testers, although, I couldn't remember him for the life of me. My remembrance came to a sudden halt, as Lisbeth literally shook me back into reality…Or whatever you would call this.

"Yorkie?...Yorkie!...YOOORKIE!" She shouted, comedically mimicking a certain foolish sidekick trying to reach a certain snake, who had just been killed in the field. I laughed softly and waved her off, explaining that I was just trying to remember if I had come into contact with the boy back in testing. She seemed slightly disappointed when I explained that I had not, but shrugged that off quickly, and went back to being happy over having a beta tester customer. At the end of the field was a large forest, most likely containing monsters of some sort. She turned towards me and smiled sheepishly.

"I'm not the best fighter in the world...And you don't have a weapon…You sure you don't want to just use crystals to get there?..."

I nodded, taking note of the worried expression on her face, and mentally prepared myself for stronger monsters. I had a question to ask of her as well.

"Do you keep any one handed swords on your person? Preferably one that won't break easily. The strength of the blade doesn't matter" I asked, emotionlessly, casually stepping through the clearing and into the forest. She followed, close to my back, and nodded. She pulled out a heavy steel broad sword from her inventory, and I gave her my thanks. She, on the other hand, was not reassured.

"I thought you were a two handed user, Yorkie"

I nodded quickly, running a rough scan of the area and responding in a monotone voice. "I am."

Her eyebrows rose again, showing that she was going to need a bit more explanation than that.

"To become a two handed swordsman you have to be proficient with a single handed sword…This will be more than suitable" I answered casually, flipping the sword through the air and catching the hilt. I grinned slightly, remembering the feeling of smaller swords.

"You know, sometimes I miss these things." I rambled, staring down at it. I did not look where I was going and stumbled over a small rock. Lisbeth tried to stifle a giggle, and I shot her a glare. That glare had the opposite effect, and she burst out into full on laughter, now unable to stop. I growled softly and walked ahead, frustrated, not bothering to check if she had gotten a hold of herself and was following behind. I walked about a hundred yards or so, when I was snapped out of my angry trance by a scream behind me. I spun around and shot back through the trees, my sword drawn and at the ready. I dove through a bush, and found Lisbeth standing over a small black imp, a large hammer in her hand.

The imp had a large, circular, discoloration underneath its chin. I assumed that was where it had been hit. Lisbeth was panting, and I guessed it had jumped up behind her and surprised her. These imps had a habit of doing that, even if they could not inflict much damage. I walked to her side and patted her on the shoulder, before telling her to calm down. She soon caught her breath and was yelling at me for abandoning her. I blocked that out and stared back at the imp, noticing something on it. I stepped forward, as she continued to shout, and knelt next to the imp, putting a finger to my lips to tell her to be quiet. Lisbeth did not notice at first and continued shouting until I got to my feet and put my hand over her mouth. She then noticed that I was asking for silence, and was willing to oblige.

I knelt back beside the imp, trying to recognize the marking on its chest. It did not take long to determine what it was. I jabbed the spot on the imp with hilt of my sword, and it began to fade away into nothingness, releasing a high pitched hissing sound as well. I stood back up and held my finger to my lips, informing Lisbeth to remain quiet, still. There was a moment of quiet, where all that could be heard was the soft rustling of branches and leaves against the wind. That calm, albeit ominous silence, was broken by a high pitched shriek, causing Lisbeth to flinch. I just smiled and looked up to the tree covering above our head, and let out a sharp howl, making sure anything looking knew I was the target.

"Do me a favor? Stay here." I said quickly as I stepped away from Lisbeth into the small area that would soon become an arena. Four shirtless elves, their eyes red, and their skin dark grey, stepped out from the shadows, their sharp teeth snapping. They were prepared for a feast they would not receive. The first savage dark elf sprung for me, and was impaled on my sword held straight towards it. It slid off my blade and dissolved into that orange glow I had gotten far too used to seeing, as the others watched, still drooling over the possibility of a meal.

The others apparently were smarter than their friend, as they charged forward in the group of 3. I growled and held the sword above my head, swinging it vertically before they reached me. A small blue aura emanated from my sword, leaving a blue line through the air, which I turned into a cross with a horizontal swing. The 3 sprinted at me as if not noticing the cross in front of me and upon impact with it stopped moving altogether. I kicked forward, my foot connecting with the center of the cross, and the chest of the dark skinned elf. The middle elf shot backward, and the lines bent before the others began flying at his side. Upon them crashing into a tree, the cross shattered, and they all rose to their feet.

I lowered my sword and let off another low howl, which sent them all charging towards me. They reached me and began slashing my chest, swinging on me in fury, hitting me over and over again. I laughed and threw my head back, looking at the stunned, and upside down in my point of view, Lisbeth. I shouted to her "At this point I'm just showing off" and looked back down at the elves. 0 damage, 0 damage, 0 damage, 0 damage, 0 damage, 5 damage. A small orange line appeared on my arm and I sighed, annoyed that one of them had managed to hit me.

I lifted my sword again, pressing it to the side of the head of the one on the far right, measuring, as they continued swatting and clawing at my chest. I took my time, making sure I had the proper line, and lazily swung through each monster. They dispersed into the same orange glow, near instantaneously and I smiled turning back to Lisbeth.

"You're safe enough with me, kiddo!" I shouted at my stunned business partner. She stared at me, looking for any damage and was even more stunned to find that there was none at all. There was an awkward silence before eventually she spoke.

"You're modding. That's impossible. For one thing, I've never seen that sword skill, and more importantly, those were not weak monsters by any means. I've seen tanks have trouble fighting off half that many, and you just destroyed four like it was nothing…Who are you?"

I smirked, knowing she could only see my back, and shrugged my shoulders. "That's because no one uses that sword skill, and, I'm just a beta tester. Sweet little Yorkie, couldn't hurt a fly".

She stared at me in a dazed sort of silence, before sprinting to catch up, and taking her place behind me. I don't think she expected much out of me other than a brute, back then…Although, I didn't really expect anything out of her other than a princess.


	4. Fear and Anger

Alright, so, it was decided. Short, frequent chapters over long, less common ones. Thank you so much for reading.

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"C-can we stop here for a while?..." The small blacksmith at my side stuttered out. I sighed lightly, annoyed not by the idea of taking a break but more by the thought of her being afraid of me. She heard my sigh and exclaimed very quickly "IT'SFINEWEDON'THAVETOLETSKEEPGOING". I chuckled softly and grabbed her shoulder, as she tried to run ahead and pulling her back. She looked back at me, a mixture of shock and fear. I smiled what I hoped would be a reassuring grin, and pulled a few pieces of firewood out of my inventort. I dropped them into a small pile and lit them before taking a seat on one side, holding my hand out, motioning for her to do the same, on the other.

"I've got no problem taking a break, Lisbeth. It seems we've got a bit to talk about anyway." I said calmly. She timidly took a seat on the other side and looked down, her bottom lip quivering. I decided to wait for her to speak first. It didn't take too long, as she soon clenched her fists and looked up at me, a sense of willpower and acceptance etched onto her face. "If you're going to kill me, just do it already!" she forced out.

I stared at her, and she stared back at me, as if expecting me to leap through the fire and kill her. She stared at me long and hard before I turned away from her, looking up to the starry sky above, intentionally not gracing that with a response. She looked down again and mumbled pathetically "Why are you toying with me?"

I let off an annoyed huff, bothered by even the concept of her suggestion. "Why, in the name of everything holy, would I want to kill you?" I spat. She was annoyed by my nonchalant response, as I said little more than 'You're not worth killing'.

"You and your gang of high level thugs will raid my shop once you're done with me, right? Nobody this strong is not leading a big guild…" she rambled. I laughed at the concept of me surrounded by a bunch of idiotic subordinates I didn't want. I laid back in the grass, lacing my fingers behind my head to make a makeshift pillow, and spoke.

"Guilds are a fucking joke. What about your friend the black swordsman. He's no guildsboy, and he's one of the strongest players left in this game."

Lisbeth seemed to ponder this for a moment, before being stricken by even more confusion. "Wait, how do you know Kirito's strong?" she asked, seeming to be distracted from her fear of moments ago.

I clenched my teeth, and forced out a sharp breath, making a 'tch' sound. I turned my head towards her to give her an answer and tried not to laugh at the glare she was giving me, after being afraid for her life, moments ago. "The guys a beta tester, and not only that, He's got dual swords. You do know he's the only one in the game who can use two swords at once, right?"

Her eyebrows raised, her curiosity now piqued. I took it as an invitation to continue my explanation. "You see, at the beta testing, they had us run through a few tests at the beginning. A couple of us were given unique skills based on how well we did on those tests. He had the fastest reaction time, and as such was given the dual blades skill."

She put her finger to her chin, in that strange, childish, thinking position, yet again. She took a moment of silence before looking back to me and smiling. "Is that why you're so strong? Oh, thank god. I thought you were just a crazy guild leader…I've had people try that on me, you know? Make a special order that requires we leave to gather materials, only to try and kill me when we got to a dungeon…But anyway, what's your special skill?" she asked, the big goofy smile still plastered to her face.

I looked back to the sky, and sat in silence, trying to avoid the question. She would not take that for an answer, as she began poking me in the side and repeating "Yorkie. Yorkie. Yorkie" over and over again. I sighed and sat up motioning her to step away from me while I showed her.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone about this, alright?"

"Girl scouts honor" she said, giving a small salute and a wink.

I went into my inventory screen, and removed my long sleeved red duster, and dropped it on the ground, leaving me standing there in just my chainmail tank and my pants that were a strange mixture of jeans and armor. She stared at me as if I was crazy, until I held out my arm, and it began to glow orange. Her eyes were drawn to this glow and I continued the demonstration. I raised my forearm slightly and flexed my entire arm. The muscles in them rose, and were sprinkled with various veins, each producing the same orange glow that shined around my arm.

She stood up, and walked to my side, jaw dropped. She poked at the muscle, and it didn't move, hard as stone. I smiled at her expression of disbelief and released, my arm instantly shrinking back to its original size. She looked up at me, and my grin grew even wider. As I knelt down to grab my coat, I began explaining.

"They gave me a dedicated strength skill. Far as I know, I'm the only one who has one. I maxed it out day one, and this happened. I got it because I was the strongest of the beta testers." I explained, with pride.

She shook herself out of her stunned trance and continued the barrage of questions. But…But you're like…a hundred and sixty pounds...There were so many beta testers. I can't just believe that you were the strongest out of all of them".

"Pound for pound, I was. A kid who weighs 160 curling 100 pounds is more impressive than a guy who weighs 300 doing 150" I responded casually, rolling my sleeves back up to just underneath my bicep.

She had no more questions after that. Well, actually, she did have one more. She stared embarrassedly at her feet, shuffling them occasionally. As soon as I was squared away with my jacket back on, I asked the question I felt obligated to.

"What's wrong now?..." I forced out. She continued looking at her feet, avoiding looking even in my direction. She kicked at the dirt, making the only sound to penetrate this awkward silence. I'm sure she felt me glaring at the top of her head, as she stiffened up soon after, and asked her question.

"so…You don't want to kill me?". She stuttered as she forced out those words. I flinched slightly, bothered that she still had to even ask. I growled softly and turned away from her, ironically now unable to look at her myself. I took a second to find some words to diffuse the situation, and defuse the bomb inside me, making me want to go off on her. I eventually settled for quiet anger, as I didn't want to disturb any other NPC's or players around.

"I may have said some rotten things earlier, what with that fetch quest comment and what not, but that doesn't make me a murderer" I spat, my voice cold and harsh. I began to walk, and remember that even the sound of her footsteps annoyed me. The soft patter following behind, letting me know that there was someone around while I was like this…It sickened me. It made me near physically ill, so you can assume how angry it made me. I tried to phase it out, but soon found that I was unable to do so, and turned to her, screaming in her face "WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE?!".

I regretted that the instant I said it, and I still wish I wouldn't have. She ran back into the forest…And I was going to have to go find her. Fuck me, right?

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Next chapter, we see if our hero somehow manages to make things work, or actually starts being a civil human being.


	5. Go Chase Her, You Idiot

Slightly longer chapter than what will be posted usually. I've been really busy with schoolwork as of late, but I am trying my best here. Anyways, there is a reference to Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan) in here, for anyone that's been reading or watching it. It's pretty obvious. You'll know what it is the second you hit it. Thank you so much for reading, and thank you for your patience with me.

* * *

I continued walking, deciding I would just use this one handed sword until I got to the next town, where I would buy another one. I tried to block out the sounds of the forest rustling, so I wouldn't have to think about the girl who had made me so angry to begin with. I didn't want to go in there again and waste more time, especially for her. I mean, who was she to call me a killer, anyway? I didn't want anyone to be hurt…I didn't want anyone to have to hurt ever…So, I'm assuming you can figure out my natural response to the sound of her screaming in the woods behind me.

I drew my sword and turned back towards the forest, charging through the brush, and low branches, swiftly cleaving any enemies in my way into pieces. I ran, and ran, my high tracking skill telling me exactly where she was. I ran to the spot, and burst through the clearing, into an area bereft of trees, much like the arena of earlier…Except bigger…A lot bigger. My eyes shot from left to right, trying to not only build a familiarity with the environment, but also in hopes of finding that soft shade of pink. My search was not a fruitless one.

There, sitting, or more so curled up, against a tree, was the girl Lisbeth. Her head was buried in her hands, and on the ground in front of her laid another imp, this one a pale skin like color, unlike the previous black one. I sighed with relief that she had not been hurt, although shivered at the concept of maybe having to apologize to the girl. I shrugged away the second one and walked in front of her, stepping over the defeated imp. I kneeled in front of her, and gently tugged one of the hands away from her eyes, and was shocked to find her beautiful orbs glistening with tears. I sighed softly, and stood back up, offering her my hand to pull herself back up.

She hesitated, but eventually sniffled and took it, quickly wiping her eyes off with her other hand. She then turned to walk ahead of me. I was frustrated with her lack of gratitude which I felt oh so entitled to, and grabbed her shoulder, attempting to turn her back towards me. She slapped my hand away and said nothing, which only proceeded to piss me off worse. I shouted after her as she walked away, "THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS THANK ME, YOU UNGRATEFUL LI-".

She spun around, and I'm surprised her eyes weren't glowing red, or her ears spewing smoke like one of those old cartoons, with how angry she was. She stomped back to face me, and I growled lightly, but was quickly interrupted by her rage articulated. "YOU THINK I NEED YOU TO SAVE ME, HUH?! IS THAT WHAT IT IS?! I'VE SURVIVED IN THIS WORLD ALL ALONE FOR A LONG ENOUGH TIME TO KNOW THAT I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" she screamed up at me, being a bit more than half a foot shorter than me.

I was impressed by this girls tenacity, yelling at a man who obviously had anger issues, and could also obviously tear her into strips of bacon, if that was what he desired, but refused to show that, glaring back down at her over my nose. She did not back down. "You just get more interesting by the second, don't you Lisbeth" I thought silently, before trying to pull my face of apathy back over my poorly masked frustration. I stepped around her, planning to just walk ahead and have her follow. "Come on. Let's talk about this when we get out of this god forsaken forest. I-" I began to say.

"I'm not going anywhere with you" She interrupted, her voice cold and confident. I sighed and placed my hands on my hips, my back still turned to her, and my eyes now focused in on a small beetle skittering across the ground, as a small distractor from this sinking pit in my stomach. "don't be ridiculous. Come on, let's go" I responded, trying to keep my voice as cold as hers, although a small bit of care seemed to slip through on the delivery. Either she didn't notice, or she just didn't care, because she stomped her foot, and went back to screaming at me.

"IF YOU THINK I WOULD GO ANYWHERE WITH YOU AFTER ALL THE MEAN THINGS YOU'VE SAID TO ME, YOU'RE FUCKING CRAZY! CRAZIER THAN I THOUGHT YOU WERE TO BEGIN WITH!" she shouted, making her words echo through the forest. Her words stung, probably more than she expected, and definitely more than I expected. I continued looking forward, trying to distract myself from how I was feeling at that moment, and tried to block her out. In that one second I succeeded, I heard a very familiar, very deep, hissing noise, but I shrugged it off as nothing, and went back to listening to her scream at me. I only caught the very end of it, but that was probably the worst part.

"WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE?!" She shouted at me. I flinched, shocked by the malice dripping from her words…Although, I didn't blame her for it. It was my fault, after all. I took a moment to collect myself, trying to strengthen my resolve, the only thing keeping me from running out of this forest without her. I clenched my fists tightly, and waited for her to bombard me with more of her rage. There was an awkward silence, which was only broken due to the sound of her voice.

"It doesn't feel great, do-"she began to say, before her sentence was broken apart by her own shriek of fright. I spun around and found myself staring at a monstrous pair of legs. I froze, and slowly began looking up at the beast above me. It was what I was afraid it would be. It was a titan. The ultra-rare skinless giant monster, stronger than the boss of this stage, which could only be drawn out by the sound of…A skin-walker imp. I physically and mentally kicked myself for not being ready for this, and just ignoring the imp, and looked to see what it had done with Lisbeth. Lisbeth was clenched in its big meaty hand and was struggling to break free, though, she was failing.

The giant creature swung its fist down, attempting to crush me, but I had already sprung out of the way. I quickly threw my jacket to the ground and pumped my energy into my muscles, before jumping onto the beasts fist. It lifted, and to hold my balance, I stabbed my sword into the tendons on his wrist, and held onto the hilt for dear life. The monster shook and shook, but I would not be moved. It flung its arm around wildly and stomped around like an ogre, until it was able to no more, overwhelmed by the pain of the sword lodged deep into its wrist, as well as tiredness. It fell to its knee, pressing the fist against the soil to use as a sort of stand, to keep it from falling. I kept the sword loosely wedged into his wrists, and put my feet on the edge of his thumb.

I used the foothold to push off, pulling with the sword to give myself more elevation. The sword tore out of his wrist, and was replanted in the top of its forearm. I wrapped my legs around the beasts giant appendage, to the best of my ability's, and began to climb the arm much like one would climb a tree with no branches. The beast would roar and howl and fling its arm around more, trying to knock me off, but I would not give up. I used my sword as a climbing tool, stabbing it higher and higher, pulling myself up until I reached the shoulder.

My muscles were beginning to grow weak from overuse, as a titans flesh is harder to push through than steel, once you get past the squishy first layer. I hung onto the sword wedged into the tip of its shoulder, dodging each time it reached it's now free arm up to try and yank me off, waiting for it to go down again. I soon came to the realization that it was to hopped up on adrenaline to go back down, and decided the only chance I had would be to make a leap for the head and pray I had enough left in me to reach it, and praying I had the courage to leave this spot which was difficult for it to reach me at.

I kicked my feet back, then forward, again and again, warming myself up for the jump from back of the shoulder to head. I pulled my sword out, as I flew forward, deciding I had enough speed. I began to corkscrew, due to the odd way I had removed myself from its body, but that did not stop me from coming to the conclusion that I was not going to make it, although something odd happened. Good luck.

It turns out the monster was reaching back to try and knock me off as I made the jump, and that gave me another foothold to spring off of. I stabbed into the back of the hand, pulling with the sword, and kicking off with my feet. I flipped through the air, until my feet collided with the side of its head. I swung my body upward, stabbing into the side of its head…But it wasn't dead. Not yet at least. I roared, my voice resembling that of a lion (at least in my mind) and pumped every ounce of extra strength into my arms. I used it to activate a sword skill I rarely used anymore. My wrist and arm began to spin like a drill, digging through the beast's flesh, until my sword reached the orange center of its head, and it finally went down. I hung onto my sword for dear life, as it was still lodged in the titans head, and was the only thing keeping me from falling to my death. The monster hit the ground with a tree shaking boom, and slowly dissolved into the orange glow.

I dropped, to my feet before the head dissolved, pulling the sword out with me. I fell to my knee, and took a moment catching my breath, before looking back to where the titan had fell. Now, the only things remaining were the blacksmith, and the spoils. I ran to the blacksmith, my artificial heartbeat the only sound I heard, pounding in my ears. I kneeled next to her and checked her status. Her health was ridiculously low, and she was unconscious, but she still lived. I went into my inventory, and pulled out my best health potion, before gently pulling the girls mouth open, and pouring it down her throat.

She remained unconscious, but her health was gradually rising, and I decided to grab the spoils and carry her out of there. Due to the rarity of the beast it carried 2 mega col, and something called a titans femur. I wasn't sure what the giants bone would do, but I took it anyway, hoping it would come into use in the future. I then returned to Lisbeth, picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder, until I decided her body was fatigued enough, and I would swallow my pride and carry her out of there bridal style. We did not run into any monsters on the way out, thank the lord, and soon reached the clearing.

The fire was still burning, so I laid her next to it, pulling a blanket out of my inventory and laying it over top of her. My eyes fluttered, and I knew I was going to pass out any second now, but I had a few things I had to say first. I knelt beside her and began mumbling to no one in particular.

"I doubt you can hear me, but I should just get this out right now. I don't hate you…And that bothers me, because by all means, I should despise you. I should hate everything about you, and you should hate everything about me. That's just the way it's always been…I'm gonna wait until you wake up, and we can talk about whatever is going on here then, alright?..."

I sighed again, and laid back on the soft grass, only now realizing how real it all felt. My eyes grew heavier and heavier with each second, and I soon was asleep, for the first time in what seemed to be ages.


End file.
